Growing Old in Style - Holiday Inn Express Soho, Sheung Wan

Growing old in Style – Holiday Inn Express Soho, Sheung Wan

Index:

With my bag collected and everything in hand, I headed back to the Airport Express station and to the arrivals area for the shuttle bus to the hotel.

The Holiday Inn Express Shenug Wan is the first stop on the shuttle bus route, so thankfully its a short ride. The downside is when you travel back, its packed to the gills for the entire journey.

Why yes. We’re back to shooting Hotel exteriors at night. Best thing really.

In terms of location, it’s a 5 minute walk from Shenung Wan MTR station, and not far off Des Voeux Central Road (where you can catch buses and trams). It’s slightly set back from the main road, but it’s not difficult to find in the least.

I headed into the hotel and after a short wait – I was seen to. I was greeted and checked in – with a late check out of 4pm offered (I took 2pm even though I was going to need to be gone from the hotel by 11am).

With the formalities completed very quickly (including issuing of breakfast vouchers, keycards and Wifi details), I was off to the 32nd floor.

It’s art.

To the elevators! For those who have more than a small amount of luggage, trolleys are provided too.

Once in the elevator, it was a matter of tapping the room key and hitting the button to take me up to the clouds above.

ALL THE BUTTONS!

Soon enough, I was up on the 32nd floor. Sounds a big hotel with all these floors doesn’t it? It isn’t because it’s a narrow building – so there’s around 10 rooms per floor.

View from the lift waiting area

Level 32…

Yes, it’s not a long corridor by the least.

With a short walk to the room, I was in my air-conditioned haven for a while – time to lie back for a bit. But first the room.

Bedroom, sofa, TV, work area. Or my work area commonly known as the bed. It’s amazing how much I get done when I’m writing in bed.

The view from the room – it just shows how dense Hong Kong can be… even in this edge past Central in Sheung Wan… its build up!

The bed again – The frosted glass partition is where the shower/bathroom is.

The bathroom – compact, but does the job.

Free water bottles… what’s the catch?

Ah. Better hit 7-11 for some more Watsons Water. There maybe other water types in Hong Kong, but I’m fascinated by the bottle shape of Watsons Water.

Although there were tea and coffee-making facilities – which is nice to see. Heck – seeing a kettle in a hotel room is a rare enough occurrence these days (and also good for making instant noodles).

There’s also a fridge in the room (extra useful), and as an IHG rewards platinum member, I had a welcome amenity in the room….

That’s right. A pack of Oreos, A can of Minute Maid Orange Juice and full fat cola.

It’s the thought that counts – and considering I don’t expect anything at Holiday Inn Express hotels, I’ll take what I can get.

The bed itself was reasonably comfortable. It’s total comfort bed, but much more of a functional and reasonably padded mattress.

Put it like this: my back didn’t hurt when sleeping on it. Considering in some hotels, that can be a challenge in itself, this is a good thing.

Another thing I like about this hotel is that breakfast is included. Access to breakfast is on the 2nd floor with a voucher.

So… a voucher for breakfast. Check. Time to head downstairs.

Breakfast is held in the Moon Thai restaurant – and it’s contracted out from IHG/Holiday Inn Express Sheung Wan/Soho. So much so, there’s a lovely notice in the lift.

That’s a lot of small print!

The breakfast sessions were a lot more quieter than the previous time I was here – it’s still shared seating, but at least it’s sociable first thing in the morning… not that most of the people were buried in smartphones.

So what does the breakfast buffet hold in store? Well, it’s a mix between Western and Asian food. Let’s have a look.

Crossants and French Bread.

Congee. Well it’s popular I suppose. Just not with your esteemed writer.

Oodles of Noodles (day 1)

Fried Rice (day 2)

Eggs – Scrambled or boiled?

Oblong Ham. Surprisingly, there are a few things my dustbin of a stomach won’t touch. Oblong ham is one of those things.

Chicken Sausages. Yes. Chicken Sausages. They look like hot dogs, but they are chicken sausages. We’ll file this under “unidentified meats” shall we? Not that bad though.

Greens with Oyster Sauce – well, something to counterbalance the naughties

Baked Beans.

Cereals

Fruits

This isn’t a bad spread at all for a budget hotel – it caters for the audience pretty well, and the food items were being constantly replenished. It’s actually good to see a hotel taking the time make sure that fresh items are out constantly, rather than letting them age for hours on end.

Check out two days later was without any problems, with the hotel offering to store items for when I was ready to collect them.

Overall: Basic properties don’t have to mean bad properties – and this hotel puts this point clearly over. The hotel was clean, well maintained and comfortable. The amenities provided fitted it perfectly and were adequate. Whilst a luxury hotels are always lovely things to behold, basic hotels that offer a great experience can be just as good if you’re using it as a base to explore a place. And the Holiday Inn Sheung Wan offered one heck of a useful base in terms of location and amenities

The Holiday Inn Express Sheung Wan is a great example of a basic property that does the basic things right, making a great property.

Next: Time for an adventure. Let’s take the bus to The Peak!

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Comments

George says

14/01/2016 at 2:45 pm

I was there my second time two weeks ago! I’ve already stayed at Indigo in Wan Chai, but you are right, this hotel fits perfectly as a base to explore the city. I like to location a lot, since it’s pretty much close to everything!
eponymous coward says

14/01/2016 at 3:04 pm

Looks OK. I’ve stayed in the Ibis Sheung Wan down the street, very similar vibe (decent place, not fancy).

Of course, there’s a very good dim sum place nearby, Lin Heung Kui, so I gave breakfast a miss.

Growing Old in Style – Holiday Inn Express Soho, Sheung Wan

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